Elfster is a social networking website

Website

A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

 for wishlists and gift-giving, and a free online organizer for "secret santa

Secret Santa

Secret Santa is a Western Christmas tradition, in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift. Often practiced in workplaces, or amongst large families, participation in it is usually voluntary...

" style gift exchanges. Elfster can be used to create wishlists and organize online gift exchanges. Users can find friends in Elfster, and follow their wishlists. Items can be added from any site online, and with the Elfster mobile app, bar code scanning allows items to be added on the go. When organizing an online gift exchange, Elfster draws names randomly and allows users to ask their draw partner questions anonymously - maintaining secrecy in a "high-tech way". .

History

Elfster was founded by software engineer Peter Imburg in 2004 after hearing about the difficulty his wife and sister had when trying to organize a Secret Santa for their family.

Services

Elfster provides a series of tools for organizing secret gift exchanges such as automated event-organization, name pairing, draw restrictions, gift guidance, wishlists, and anonymous questions and answers.

Elfster helps with the logistics of determining who wants to participate, drawing names, and communicating the names that were drawn, while identities remain secret

In December 2009, Elfster collaborated with Claire's

Claire's

Claire's is a retailer of accessories and jewelry to girls and young women. Claire's has over 3,000 locations worldwide: their stores are in 95% of all U.S. shopping malls, and in 33 countries...

to create Secret Santa Circle , a temporary Secret Santa website for the jewelry retailer .

In November 2010, new features were added including trending gifts, activity updates and the ability to suggest and share gift ideas .